Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 1.5% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Western Digital shares rose 1.5% to $469.05, with a market capitalization of approximately $161.7 billion. The stock’s average analyst rating is “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $534.56.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $3.56 versus the $3.31 consensus and revenue of $3.75 billion, up 43.8% year over year. Management provided fiscal Q1 2027 EPS guidance of $3.85–$4.15.
• Western Digital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, equivalent to a 0.1% yield, while insiders sold roughly $11.6 million of stock over the past three months. Institutional investors own 92.51% of outstanding shares.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $477.28 and last traded at $469.05. 5,081,572 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 8,913,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $462.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WDC. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $555.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $431.58. The company has a market capitalization of $161.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital's payout ratio is 2.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,987 shares of company stock worth $11,602,097. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $512,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $483,977,000 after purchasing an additional 159,167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.

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